Blogger Tips and Tricks and Motorcycles Too

When I bought my first motorcycle a year ago, a 2006 Honda Shadow Sabre, the first thing I did was buy a Garmin Zumo 550 GPS for it. Cause I needed it, OK! When I took my bike to the shop, the mechanic said to me, "You know, when people buy a new bike, one of the first things they do is buy louder pipes or bigger tires, but you are adding a GPS?" Well, I'm a gadget geek and that's right, the GPS was the coolest thing out there. I of course also had to buy the XM Radio GXM 30 antennae, speakers for my helmet and a cool handyman toolkit, but I digress.

I am fairly new to blogging, being the gadget geek that I am, one of the first things I did was search for all the cool tips, tricks and gadgets out there you can use on Blogger. You can find some of them if you read on.

1. Had to think of some theme for the Blog that was personal and could be broad enough to encompass the amazing wealth of knowledge stuck in my head. Not that much really.
   
2. Setup a Google Apps Domain, because I needed to my own domain name of course. I did this through Blogger and had some real problems getting Google Webmaster tools to see my new domain and allow me to submit a Sitemap. Here's a good knol article on the issues. Incidentally, I discovered Google Apps and Webmaster tools through this and they are very nice tools.
   
3. Added jQuery Expandable Summaries to posts.
4. Created my own hacked up minimalist Blogger template with a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
5. Had to show off my basic Photoshop skills creating my classic iconic site header graphic.
   
6. I created my own Adobe icon buttons using a cool AIR application. If you don't know, AIR is a cross platform runtime that let's you create offline desktop applications. It's pretty amazing and people have created some incredible applications, a lot more and some more.
   
7. You should definitely sign-up with Technorati.
8. Submitted a Sitemap in Google Webmaster Tools.
9. I added links to my Social/Web 2.0 site buttons, gotta have those, right?
   
10. I found a few nice tools to help manage, advertise and track traffic on my blog including:

• AddThis
• FeedShot
• FeedBurner
  - If you are using Google Webmaster tools, check this out.
• Google Analytics
• Grazr

So I think I am good to go ;) Now I just need to create some great content and get everything in my head onto my Blog. I read a good point that it's easier for experts to report than reporters to become experts. I have a little expertise I can share that may be of some value. I have been a terrible troll the last few years, consuming much and giving little. I started this Blog to index my life, work and interests hoping you can find something valuable here amongst the loud buzz of the Blogosphere and my cluttered mind, which I am trying desperately to organize. I like to say that I am smart enough to know that I have a lot more to learn. I think Socrates said that. Enjoy.